Changes in the Teaching of Folk and Traditional Music: Folkworks and Predecessors
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Changes in the Teaching of Folk and Traditional Music: Folkworks and Predecessors Thesis M. Price Submitted in fulfilment of the degree of PhD Newcastle University November 2017 i Abstract Formalised folk music education in Britain has received little academic attention, despite having been an integral part of folk music practice since the early 1900s. This thesis explores the major turns, trends and ideological standpoints that have arisen over more than a century of institutionalised folk music pedagogy. Using historical sources, interviews and observation, the thesis examines the impact of the two main periods of folk revival in the UK, examining the underlying beliefs and ideological agendas of influential figures and organisations, and the legacies and challenges they left for later educators in the field. Beginning with the first revival of the early 1900s, the thesis examines how the initial collaboration and later conflict between music teacher and folk song collector Cecil Sharp, and social worker and missionary Mary Neal, laid down the foundations of folk music education that would stand for half a century. A discussion of the inter-war period follows, tracing the impact of wireless broadcasting technology and competitive music festivals, and the possibilities they presented for both music education and folk music practice. The second, post-war revival’s dominance by a radical leftwing political agenda led to profound changes in pedagogical stance; the rejections of prior practice models are examined with particular regard to new approaches to folk music in schools. Finally, the thesis assesses the ways in which Folkworks and their contemporaries in the late 1980s and onward were able to both adapt and improve upon previous approaches. The research reveals how a conflict between opposing views of folk music education prior to the First World War led to an artificial polarisation of pedagogical approaches that was not fully resolved until the late 1980s, affecting the practice of several generations of teachers often unaware of constraints of the legacy they were working within. In presenting one possible solution to this dichotomy, Folkworks demonstrated a way ahead for the community of folk educators that was to prove influential. ii Acknowledgements: I am obliged to both the Arts & Humanities Research Council, and to North Music Trust for their assistance with this project. Much gratitude my Mother, Father, my sister Helen, my partner Britta and the rest of my family who have put up with this for so long. Thankyou, from the bottom of my heart: this is yours as much as mine. Many thanks to Doctors Vic Gammon and Ian Biddle for being there and showing belief in me at the start and the end of this work respectively, and to all the other academics who have been involved with this project goes thanks commensurate with their respective input. Thanks to all the lovely people I met through Folkworks, and especially Alistair Anderson, David Oliver and Stewart Hardy for their time. Thanks also to my fellow students for being a tight knit and supportive group. Dedication: To the memory of our friend and colleague Darren James Fenn. iii iv CONTENTS Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Contents vi List of Tables viii Introduction 1 Situating Myself 2 Defining Folk 5 Participation and the Folk Scene 8 Methodologies 11 Autoethnography: History, Development, Controversy 16 Autoethnography in Practice 20 Methodologies in Contrast 23 Thesis Parameters 25 Thesis Overview 28 1. Chapter 1: Folk Music Education: An 33 Untold Story 1.1 The Groundwork of Revival 35 1.2 19th Century Collections: from Scholar to 37 Singer 1.3 The Folk Song Society 44 1.3.1 An overview of the prevailing 46 conceptions of folk music circa 1900. 1.4 Mary Neal and the Espérance Morris 49 Guild 1.5 Cecil Sharp and the Board of Education. 57 1.5.1 Cecil Sharp: Educator 59 1.5.2 Against England’s Stigma as das Land 60 Ohne Musik. 1.6 Neal and Sharp in Contrast 66 1.6.1 Aftermath and Legacy 70 2 Chapter 2: Between The Wars: 72 Competitive Folk Music and the BBC’s Schools Programme 2.1 Competitive Folk Music 77 2.1.1 Wales and the Eisteddfodau 78 v 2.1.2 Scotland and the Great Highland 79 Bagpipes 2.1.3 The Northumbrian Small Pipes 80 2.1.4 Ireland: the Roots of Comhaltas 81 Ceoltóirí Êireann 2.2 Mary Wakefield and the Competition 84 Festival 2.2.1 Folk Song Competition in England 88 2.2.2 Competition and Pedagogy. 90 2.3 Wireless Technology and the Birth of 91 British Broadcasting 2.3.1 The BBC and Music Education 94 2.4 Singing Together: Folk Song for Schools 98 2.4.1 Methodology and Resources 100 2.5 Wartime 1940s: Singing Together For 103 Comfort 2.5.1 Post-War 1940s: A New Beginning 111 2.5.2 1950s: A More Stable Curriculum 114 2.5.3 1960s: a Focus on Folk 119 2.5.4 1970s: A World of music 122 2.5.5 1980s: Change in the Air 127 2.5.6 1990s: Decline and Disappearance 1130 2.6 Singing Together Overall Summary 133 2.6.1 Concluding Thoughts: Wakefield and the 140 BBC 142 3 Chapter 3. Folk Music Education in the Postwar-Revival 3.1 Post-war Revival: Ideas and Influences 142 3.2 Records: The (R)evolving Tradition 149 3.3 The Critic’s Group 151 3.4 Folk Music in Schools 154 3.4.1 Suitability 157 3.4.2 Inspiration Beyond Music 160 3.4.3 Ownership and Agency 162 3.4.4 Aurality 165 3.4.5 Interpretation and Accompaniment 167 3.5 Folk Song In Schools: Nealism re-visited 170 4 Chapter 4. Folkworks: Tradition in 174 the Making 4.1 Alistair Anderson: The Importance of 175 Inspiration 4.2 Folkworks’ Educational Precursors 182 4.3 The Foundations of Folkworks 185 4.4 Folkworks and Teaching Style: “In 193 Comes I…” 4.5 Observation: Folkworking 198 4.5.1 Stewart Hardy’s Assessment: Four 208 vi Values 4.6 Twin Track: the Best of Neal, Wakefield 210 and Sharp? 4.6.1 The Legacy of Folkworks 214 Conclusions 222 The First Folk Revival 223 The Inter-war Period 227 The Second Folk Revival 230 The Folkworks Intervention 232 The Value of Folk Music Education 236 For the Future… 237 Bibliography of Works Consulted 241 Appendix 251 List of Tables: 1.6 Table 1: Sharp Vs Neal 69 2.5 Table 2: Songs from‘Singing Together’ 110 April – June 1940 vii Introduction Since the beginnings of the first folk revival in England in the early 1900s, there have been attempts to codify and organise the teaching of folk and traditional music. Since those early days, through the work of numerous dedicated organisations, institutions and individuals, folk music tuition has continued to expand into a variety of formal settings: from school classrooms and residential weekends to evening classes, festival workshops and even degree courses. Yet despite more than a century having passed since the first revival began in earnest, there has been little attempt to document the history of folk music education practice, and as a result successive generations of folk educators have found themselves ‘re-invented the wheel’ with little knowledge of prior practice to guide them. This project sets out to explore and document the major trends that have arisen within formal folk music education, examining the assumptions, beliefs and agendas that shaped each successive wave of development, tracing the ways in which each movement borrowed from, rejected or simply ignored previous approaches, to build up a picture of the continuities and disconnections that have shaped folk music education for over one hundred years. The research focus is the practices that took hold in England, bringing in influences from the wider UK and Ireland where relevant, starting from the first educational impulses that were central to the initial revival efforts, examining each of the major developments in the field of folk music. A deep-seated conflict between two rival factions during the first revival is revealed as having an ongoing divisive legacy that would remain largely unresolved until the intervention of the folk arts development agency Folkworks after 1988. It is hoped that this research will be of use to both scholars and practitioners of folk music, as an overarching assessment of folk music education history has hitherto been unavailable. By highlighting how the underlying ideological and pedagogical stances of the most influential approaches since the initial revival have shaped each of their successors in turn, a basis is provided for a historically informed view of current practice, which can be both better understood and more accurately questioned when its roots are revealed. This introduction will begin by setting out my personal connection to both the music and the research, in an effort to foreground and outline my own subjective position from the outset. A discussion of the currently prevailing conceptions of folk music and the attendant folk scene follows, and includes a discussion of how these terms are used throughout the thesis. After 1 brief assessment of the nature of folk music participation and learning in England and the wider UK, an overview of the thesis as a whole outlines the key themes explored in each chapter. Situating Myself I cannot claim a wholly objective and dispassionate relationship to the subject matter of this thesis, and nor do I wish to: folk music education has not only formed a significant part of my formative musical experiences, but has also been a consistent component of my professional practice since my mid teens. In short, I have interests in the outcome of this thesis beyond attaining the qualification itself, as it is hoped to be of use to my fellow practitioners within my own professional, cultural and social sphere.